1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for implementing a navigation key function in a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly to a method for implementing a navigation key function in a mobile communication terminal based on fingerprint recognition, wherein a fingerprint-recognition sensor serves as a navigation key.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current mobile communication terminals (also referred to as “cellular phones”) have functions such as a high-quality bell sound generator, a music player, and a camera. Further, a cellular phone having functions such as user identification based on biometric recognition and GPS (Global Positioning System) is gathering attention as a next-generation cellular phone.
In an identification method using fingerprint recognition in a cellular phone, an input fingerprint is recognized, and permission to use a cellular phone is determined based on the result of a check of whether the recognized fingerprint is identical with a stored user-fingerprint, thereby preventing its use by an unauthorized person.
Commonly, a menu selection key most frequently used by the user is disposed on the cellular phone at a position easy to reach by a fingerprint of a thumb for the authentication of a user. The menu selection key is not only used for selecting a menu item, but also for navigation between menu items. For implementing the navigation, the menu selection key is composed of a button-type navigation key that includes up/down/right/left navigation keys. Thus, there is a need to provide a configuration combining the fingerprint recognition function and the button-type navigation key. Such a configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,230 B1. In this prior art, a fingerprint recognition sensor is integrated into the actuating surface of a button-type navigation key. This prior art has a problem in that a fingerprint recognition module is built-in together with a navigation-key function module, and the number of parts of the system increases. This makes it difficult to secure a built-in space for receiving the parts of various functions in the latest cellular phone, which tends toward a smaller size.